Sifu Lorne Bernard reminds us to be thorough in our consideration of the Arts, and to think reasonably. Don’t be duped! Here are 11 great points to set you on your practice.
Time to dispel some myths and have some fun!
Misinformation and lack of understanding have affected all spheres of human activity since we have been recording it. Those who know about various subjects often just shrug when they see how the masses often misinterpret events or misunderstand issues.
In the martial arts, this propensity to stereotyping and believing without proper research leads to good people being duped by false claims, fake histories and silly demonstrations of supposed skill. I write this mini-article to educate, perhaps with a little friendly nudge or a wink wink emoji type feeling, rather than out of malice or some other negative mind set. If you are easily offended, then that is on you and all I can suggest is that what offends must hold a grain of truth.
Again, my intention is not to offend but to hopefully instill the desire to analyze and reflect upon some issues related to the martial arts. So here is a friendly set of things I’ve always wanted to share. As I get older I esteem it is now time to do so and have a chuckle at the same time.
1- If you keep learning different martial arts, and always choose the latest exotic art that no one else has ever heard of, you may be an attention whore.
2- The old saying that “All martial arts come from shaolin” is silly and historically ridiculous. This being said, many systems do come from shaolin, hence the famous saying.
3- If a system is many generations (more than 6 generations) old, it is very unlikely to be identical to what it was at the beginning! People change, misinterpret, add, evolve and forget! 
4- Good traditional martial arts styles are living entities that progress all the time. If they become static, then they lose effectiveness. Experimentation ought to be encouraged, as well as hard study to understand the style’s true essence and essential techniques.
5-All schools expound the virtues of their art and technique. It’s called business. Now you know.
6- There is nothing new under the sun. It’s all been done before, you just did not know it!
7-The only master who never ever lost a fight is the one who never had one! 
8- If everyone’s account of an event differs from your own…you might want to re-examine your beliefs. In other words, don’t be like the mother who notes how all the soldiers are walking off beat except for her son.
9- If you expect a fight to look like a kung fu movie you will be sorely disappointed. I will not stand there posing in a cat stance with a crane beak strike frozen in space so you can see it!
10- If you expect to see many of the moves and positions from traditional systems in actual combat, you will be disappointed. They are being used alright, it’s just that they are executed quickly and differently than the forms. For example, in wing chun they say one should ever see the Bong sao. In the flying crane style, the cat stance is always used but hardly seen. Long punches become short and hand techniques are so fast as to be hard to identify (well, if one is skilled). So there are two factors at work: 1-Are the techniques being used; 2- Does the person looking have the knowledge and background to determine whether or not it is so?
11- If your school claims to do traditional martial arts but does not have regular sparring… that is…odd
More to come!
Peace and happiness!
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